Carding-machine.



A. w. GREER, SR- & J. A. GREER.

CARDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-20. 1913.

Patented July 13, 191R 2 SHEETS-SHEET I- WITNESSES COLUMBIA PLANOOIZAPHCO" WAMIING'ION, D. C.

A. w. GREER, sR. & J. A. G REER. CARDING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILEDAUG.20,-19I3,

Patented July 13, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- IIIIIIII) INVENTOR} IL 'I/IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIflI/IIIIIIIIIIWIIII WITNESSES ANDREW w. G EEE, sa, AND JAMES A.

i l ffillii.

eaEEE, 0E GEIEEIE, GEORGIA; SAID ANDREW W. GREEB, SR., ASSIGNOR TO SAIDJAMES A. GREEK.

CARDING-MACI-IINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 13, 1915.

Application filed August 20, 1913. Serial No. 785,753.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ANDREW W. GREEK, Sn, and JAMEs A. GREEK, citizensof the United States, residing at Griffin, in the county of Spalding andhave invented certain new and useful Improvements in Carding-hlachines,of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to improvements in carding machines, andits object is to effect a saving in cotton, as well as improve thequality thereof. v

It is the customary practice in carding machines to run the cardingcylinder and the flats in the same direction where they engage,wherefore the flats become progressively more contaminated with refusetaken from the cotton as the cotton approaches the do'lfer. Inaccordance with the present invention the flats are caused to travelwith the run adjacent to the cylinder moving in a direction the reverseof that of the card cylinder, so that the cotton is acted upon duringits progress through the carding machine by successively cleanerportions of the flats and consequently when finally delivered to thedoffer the cotton is markedly better and freer from refuse than hasheretofore been the case.

Moreover, the invention includes an additional roller covered withcarding cloth and located between the licker-in and the correspondingend of the web of flats, the arrangement of this roller being such as tobe active to the flats and to the carding cylinder. The added roller isfor the purpose of removing the cotton strips from the flats as theyleave the carding cylinder close to the lickeran and after these cottonstrips are cleaned the cotton is replaced upon the card cylinder. Theresult is that there is a saving of from seven to ten per cent., more orless, of the cotton and practice has shown that the resultant carding issuperior to that obtained in a carding machine without the presence ofthe additional roller. The refuse removed from the cotton in a days runis' almost free from cotton instead of this refuse containing a materialportion of the cotton treated by the carding machine.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of thefollowing detailed description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings forming a part State of Georgia,

what modified construction.

- a point near the of this specification, with the further understandingthat while the drawings show a practical form of the invention, thelatter is not confined to any strict conformity with the showing of thedrawings, but may be changed and modified so long as such changes andmodifications mark no material departure from the salient features ofthe invention.

In the drawings :Figure 1 is a front to rear vertical section of aportion of a carding machine embodying the present invention. Fig. 2 isa perspective view of a portion of a carding machine embodying thepresent invention. Fig. 3 is an elevation of a portion of the oppositeside of the machine from that shown in Fig. 2, and showing drivingmechanism for the flats. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal diametric section ofthe additional roller. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of a carding machineshowing a some- Fig. 6 is an elevation of a detail of Fig.

While the present invention is not limited to any special type ofcarding machine, it can be and has been used in connection with acarding ma chine, such as illustrated in Patent No. 623,094, granted to(3. Mills and L. W. Penney, April 11, 1899, and a refer ence to saidpatent will be suflicient to dis close parts of the carding machine orengine which have not been illustrated in the an nexed drawings becausedeemed unnecessary for the understanding of the present invention.

The carding machine or engine includes a carding cylinder 1 covered withthe usual wire or carding clothing 2, and this cylinder is mounted upona shaft 3 supported in suit able hearings in a frame 41 and driven inany appropriate manner. Crowning the cylinder 1 is an endless chain ofwire clothed flats 5 carried by rollers 6, and this web of flats extendsfrom a point near the licker-in 7 to dofl'er 8 all similar to thearrangement shown in the aforesaid Letters Patent. There is, however, amaterial difference between the arrangement shown in the said LettersPatent and a cording machine or engine constructed in accordance withthe present invention, and one of these points of difference relates tothe course of travel of the flats. It is customary with a machine suchas shown in the said Letters Patent to drive the flats by power impartedto the end roller of the series of rollers supporting the flats andindicated in Fig. 1 at 6, the direction of travel of the run of the beltor web between that cylinder 1 to the shaft 3 that its of flats next tothe carding cylinder being in the same direction as the cardingcylinder, and in the structure as viewed in Fig. 1 where the directionof travel of the cylinder 1 is clockwise the direction of travel of therun of the flats next to the cylinder would also be clockwise, but inaccordance with the present invention motion is imparted to the flatsbypower applied to the other end roller 6 0f the series, so that theactive run of the flats is counterclockwise as viewed in Fig. l, or thereverse of the direction of travel of the peripheral portion of thecylinder 1. It is customary to run the flats .by a belt driven by apulley 9 mounted on the shaft 3, and in a machine constructed inaccordance with the present invention this pulley drives a beltlOleading to another pulley 11 on a stub shaft 3 driving a worm gear 4: onanother sha ft 5 carrying a worm '7 in engagement with a worm gear 8fast to the shaft or journal of the roller 6 and so arranged that thesurface of the carding cylinder and the adjacent run of the flats movein opposite directions and, furthermore, the parts are so related thatthe movements are at such relative speeds as practice demands.

The roller G ha-s journaled bearings in brackets 19. carried by asuitable portion of the frame, and these brackets have other brackets 13secured thereto and so located that they carry journal bearings 1-1 forthe journal ends 15 of a roller 16, which latter is covered with cardclothing 17 and is situated portion of the flats passing about theroller 6 and the licker-in 7, the card clothing of the roller 16 beingso related to the card clothing of the cylinder 1 and flats 5 as tonearly touch that of the flats on one side and the cylinder on theother.

The roller 16 is provided with a pulley 18 which may be mounted on oneof the journals 15, and this pulley is driven by a belt 19 coming froman appropriate pulley 20 on the shaft 3, the parts being proportioned toimpart to the roller 16 an appropriate speed of rotation which may berelatively high with respect to the speed of rotation of the and thelinear speed of the web The roller 16 is so connected up direction ofmovement where adjacent to the cylinder 1 and where adjacent to theflats 5 is the same as the corresponding surfaces of the cylinder andflats, although the roller itself rotates upon its axis in acounterclockwise direction in the view of the structure as seen in Fig.l.

The lap indicated at 21 is fed lap stand. 22to the licker-in 7 in fromthe the usual manner and to the cylinderl where it is acted. upon by theflats 5 first by the loaded end of the web of flats and later by thecleaner portion of the web of flats until as the sliver approaches thedoifer 8 it is subjected to the action of the cleanest portion of theflats, wherefore when the sliver approaches the doffer it is in farbetter condition than is the case where the flats and the cylinder 1have their adjacent portion moving in the same direction.

The loaded top flats leave the cylinder 1 close to the licker-in and arethere acted upon by the roller 16 which removes the strippings from theflats and replaces them upon the cylinder 1, which at this point has agreater peripheral speed than the roller 16, thus keeping the latterclean. Between the point where the roller 16 takes off the strippingsfrom the flats and the point where it replaces these strippings upon thecylinder 1 a suitable number of mote knives 93 are located to knock outthe motes, dirt and other trash, which trash falls into a mote box 24inclosing the roller 16.

The mote box has a door 95 for the convenient removal of collected trashat suitable intervals. By this means almost the entire amount of cottonfiber heretofore allowed to waste is replaced upon the card ing cylinderto be ultimately removed therefrom by the doffer 8, and practice hasdemonstrated that the resultant sliver is particularly clean, while theoutput of the machine is increased from seven to ten per cent., more orless, due to the saving of the strippings which are taken directly fromthe flats and at once replaced upon the carding cylinder, while in theinterim between the removal of the strippings from the flats and thereplacing of them upon the carding cylinder all motes, dirt and trashfound in the strippings are removed. The operation is wholly automaticand requires but the presence of one small additional roller whichplaces no appreciable load upon the machine and requires no attention.The cost thercfore of recovering the strippings from the flats is whollynegligible, and this recovery represents a material saving amounting toten to thirteen pounds of cotton, more or less, per card, per day of tenhours, while the resultant carding is noticeably improved.

In the arrangement shown in Fig. 1 the cotton strippings are taken fromthe flats and replaced directly upon the carding cylinder. Instead ofsuch an arrangement the arrangement shown in Fig. 5 may be employedwhere there is indicated a roller 16 and another roller 16 between thedelivery end of the web of flats and the licked-in 7. These two rollers16 and 16 are connected as by gearing 18 to rotate in oppositedirections, the roller 16 rotating with respect to the flats in the samedirection as the roller 16, while the roller 16 rotates in the oppositedirection. Neither roller 16 nor 16 delivers upon the cylinder 1 in thestructure shown in Fig. 4:, but the roller 16 strips the flats 5 anddelivers upon the roller 16 which in turn delivers upon the licker-in 7and the strippings are by the licker-in delivered to the cylinder 1, themotes and dirt and trash being removed from the strippings before theyreach the cylinder 1.

In either structure shown in the drawings the flats travel in theopposite direction to the travel of the cylinder 1 so as to deliverclose to the receiving portion of the cylinder, while the roller 16,0rthe pair of rollers 16*, 16 strip the flats of adhering cotton andrestore this cotton to the cylinder 1, the trash accompanying thestrippings being removed before such strippings again reach the cylinder1.

In the actual operation of the machine the waste is made up almostexclusively of motes and dirt and trash with hardly any noticeablequantity of cotton fiber, while the waste of a carding machine lackingthe features of the present invention represents a very material amountof the cotton fiber which has heretofore been saved only at a materialcost.

What is claimed is 1. In a carding machine or engine, a rotatablecarding cylinder, a web of flats in superposed relation to the cylinder,means for driving the active run of the flats in a direction opposite tothe movement of the corresponding portion of the cylinder, and astripping roller for removing strippings from the delivery end of theweb of flats and related to the cylinder to return the strippingsthereto at the receiving end of the cylinder, said stripping rollerbeing provided with means for removing the trash from the strippings onthe stripping roller before the strippings are returned to the cylinder.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for 2-. In a carding machine orengine, a rotatable carding cylinder, a web of flats in superposedrelation to the cylinder, means for driving the active run of the flatsin a direction opposite to the movement of the corresponding portion ofthe cylinder, and a stripping roller for removing strippings from thedelivery end of the web of flats and related to the cylinder to returnthe strippings thereto at the receiving end of the cylinder, saidstripping roller being provided with means for removing the trash fromthe strippings on the stripping roller before the strippings arereturned to the cylinder, the trash removing means comprising moteknives and a mote box inclosing the mote knives and provided with areceptacle for trash and also provided with a door for access to theinterior of the box.

3. In a carding machine or engine, the combination with a rotatablecarding cylinder, a licker-in, a web of flats in superposed relation tothe cylinder, and means for driving the active run of the flats in adirection opposite to the movement of the correspond ing portion of thecylinder, of stripping means at and for removing strippings from thedelivery end of the web of flats and con structed and arranged to causethe strippings to be replaced upon the cylinder to be again fed to theflats along with fresh or untreated material, said stripping meanshaving means associated therewith for removing trash from the strippingsbefore the latter again reach the cylinder.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

ANDREW' W. GREEK, Sn, JAMES A. GREEK. lVitnesses:

W. F. LANIER, Gno. C. IMEs.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

